Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold HD Review

Having seen the success of “scavenger hunt” type games everywhere from bowling alleys to arcades, it was a surefire bet that this genre would make itself known on the iPad. An interesting observation is that these pixel hunt games have a lot in common with the adventure genre, where a player hunts through a plethora of pixels in an attempt to find the next part to complete a more complex item.

Now that I have rambled on about the different possible genres this game fits into, the grand question still remains: What am I actually talking about? The game in question is Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold HD. If you love two-dimensional graphics, love scouring for hidden pixels in an attempt to solve a puzzle, and have a load of patience, Treasure Seekers is for you.

The story of Treasure Seekers is a rather cliched “let us go find my relative’s treasure” but it is the journey that hooks the player to the game. The two- dimensional graphics are beautiful to behold and add a certain charm to the game. As with all games in the pixel hunting genre, sometimes you have to strain your eyes and show a little patience to find that last missing nut or bolt. Luckily, for those who are in a hurry, Treasure Seekers has a feature where the player can have the game pinpoint one of those missing items every so often. Once a player chooses to use that omnipotent helper feature, it takes a while for it to recharge so it cannot be abused. Some might see this as a copout, but in my opinion, it helped immensely when I was stuck during certain sections.

To keep a player from getting too frustrated, the music exudes a calming aura that will keep the player from getting too angry at the game after staring down a level for a couple of minutes attempting to find that last bolt (or rope or statue). To add some variety to the gameplay, Treasure Seekers throws in some mini-games throughout the player’s epic journey that break out the game’s normal mold. I think that these add enough variety to keep a person hooked to Treasure Seekers till they are finished with it.

As mentioned previously, the 2D graphics in Treasure Seekers are gorgeous and definitely add to the game’s character. Everything runs smoothly on the iPad and there are no quirks or slowdowns at all. Sometimes some of the areas are a tad bit too busy or too dark, but the darkness can be remedied by turning up the brightness a bit and the frustration stemming from the amount of items on the screen can be controlled by taking a break from the game to give the player’s nerves some rest.

Overall, when all of the different parts of Treasure Seekers are taken into account, the game is both well made and provides a lot of joy to people who are into pixel hunts. If you become frustrated easily or have no patience, you might want to pass up Treasure Seekers. On the other hand, if you like completing small tasks that slowly bring you closer to the end of the journey, you will be glad you purchased the game. I personally give Treasure Seekers a hearty thumbs up even though I did have to take a couple of breaks from playing it to give my eyes some rest trying to find some nuts and bolts.